Power Corrupts
by Shax
Summary: A strange and powerful artifact, and the effects it has on Sonic and Mecha.


POWER CORRUPTS 

Series 2 - The Three Tests   
Episode 9 

[Visit Shax's Virtual Den][1]   
[E-mail the author][2]

PROLOGUE: 

"Why are we out here, number seventy-five?" asked E-101 droid number fifty-eight. "Scavenging for minerals." replied number seventy-five. "What kind of minerals?" asked fifty-eight. "Any kind." replied seventy-five. "Is this a mineral?" the other robot asked, holding up a glass case. The case was rather cracked, but not enough to stop being completely airtight. There was a strange glowing orb inside, hovering in the center. 

"A hyper-neutrino." Mecha Sonic stated. "A hyper what-what?" Vlad the Bat asked. Mecha held up the container, the strange orb inside throbbing with energy. "A hyper-neutrino." Mecha repeated. "Found only in the deepest depths of space. It is incredibly unstable, and explodes with several times the power of a nuclear weapon when bonding with oxygen." Everything the robot said went straight over Vlad's head, but he was interested regardless. "So it goes 'boom'?" Vlad asked. Mecha took time to comprehend the ornomatapoea, but eventually he nodded. "When bonding with oxygen, yes." "Give me a look!" Vlad demanded, reaching for the vial. "Impossible.." Mecha replied. "You are incompetant.. this glass is delicate and could break easily. Robotropolis would be a crater if this protective vial were smashed. It will be unsafe to touch until I remove the element Transcrobium and purify the neutrino." 

CHAPTER ONE: 

"Princess Sally Acorn!" exclaimed a large bald eagle, as he saw Sally approach. "We have been prepared for your visit ever since you radioed us!" Sally grinned and hugged the eagle in greeting. "It's so kind of you to let us stay here, Roy." she said. "Oh, not at all!" the eagle named Roy replied. "If anything, we should be thanking YOU for staying with us, Princess Sally!" Sally grinned and looked back at the rest of her team. "No need to call me Princess.." she replied. "I'm not any more. Sally will be fine." Roy smiled kindly. "I you insist.." he replied. He stepped back, and spread his arms. "Well, welcome to Stringybark, fellow Freedom Fighters!" 

Petals smirked as she walked. "Welcome indeed." she muttered. "This village sucks! Stupid Robotnik had to blow up our village.. one of these days I'm going to tie his spine in a knot.." She looked up, and saw somebody standing staring at her. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" she yelled. The figure, an orange porcupine, stepped back a little. "What's your name?" he asked. Petals spat in the dirt. "What's it to you?" she asked. Building a little confidence, the stranger walked towards her. "My name's Mickey!" he declared. Petals glared at Mickey. "Petals." she spat. "Now go away." "Oh, Petals!" Mickey exclaimed. "What a beautiful name!" "Lovely." Petals replied sarcastically. "Now rack off." she turned to walk away, but Mickey followed her. "You have nice hair!" he complimented. "I have a nice fist!" she replied. "Don't you have somewhere you should be, right now?" "Like where?" Mickey asked. "LIKE ANYWHERE!" Petals shouted. Mickey stopped walking, and watched her storm off. 

"Neutrino isolation complete." Mecha declared. Slowly, he began to open the canister. Vlad shrank back, nervously. Mecha struggled with the lid, the vaccuum had not been broken. Suddenly, the lid ripped off, and suspense filled the air. As Mecha had hoped, the isolation was a success. The neutrino didn't explode, it just fell to the bottom of the canister with a thump, and rolled a little. Vlad gained confidence and raced towards it to look at it. It was shiny and blue, like a marble. Mecha Sonic reached inside the canister, and picked up the object. It shined in his hand. "This is extremely powerful.." he muttered. "Robotnik will be very happy that I have done so well." "YEAH, me too!" Vlad jumped up and down excitedly. "You?" Mecha asked. "You did nothing!" "I gave you advice!" Vlad protested. "No you didn't!" Mecha replied. "Well, I was THINKING it pretty hard.." Vlad replied. "Imbecile." Mecha muttered, looking back at the hyper-neutrino. What was happening? Was it SINKING? Mecha tried to drop it into the canister, but it sank into his hand. He shook his metallic arm, but he could just see the glow of the ball sliding from his hand up his arm. "This presents a problem." Mecha stated, following the glow with his eyes. Vlad stared in disbelief. "What's happening?" he asked. "I do not know." Mecha replied. The glow stopped moving in the robot's stomach, and the brightness increased greatly. The effects were istantanious, as Mecha began to get shorter. He looked around, not knowing what was happening. "I appear to be melting.." he muttered. "Melting?" Vlad asked. "YES MELTING." Mecha replied, his voice reaching a degree of helplessness. "Assist me, Vlad.." "Assist you?" Vlad asked. "ASSISST MEEE!!" Mecha screamed, sinking below the level of the tabletop. He sank so low that Vlad couldn't see him any more. "Oh dear.." he muttered, twiddling his fingers. "Umm..." He looked around, searching for somebody to help him. All he knew was that Mecha had touched the strange marble, and now he was a pile of gak. As he looked around, he didn't notice the tentacle-like blue arm with a yellow hand flop onto the tabletop.. followed by a second one. Then a shadowy figure raised itself into view. "All.. systems... nominal." he muttered. Vlad turned and saw Mecha. But he looked a little different.. "You're floppy!" the bat declared. "Floppy." Mecha repeated. He had a mouth! It wasn't really a mouth, it was a hole in Mecha's head which flopped around when the robot spoke. His spike nose was elongated and drooping at the end. He moved as if he was made out of play-dough, and he had a bright yellow glow in the centre of his body. "Yes... floppy indeed." the robot snarled. "I have been improved.. the hyper-neutrino had some form of effect on me.." "I'LL say!" Vlad replied. "Are we going to get in trouble for this?" Mecha's liquid-like eyes shifted to glare at the bat. "Only you." he replied. He extended his arm to at least three feet long, and whacked the bat into a cupboard on the side of the room. "I AM IMPROVED!!" Mecha screamed, streching his arm to a window six feet above his head, flattening himself, and leaving the building without lifting the pane.... 

"AND IN CONCLUSION, I would hope that the ill-fated Knothole Freedom Fighters will find a suitable home here in Stringybark, and that they will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity."   
As Roy stepped down from the microphone, the entire hall of Freedom Fighters, from both Stringybark and Knothole, clapped loudly. Except Petals, who never clapped at anything. Streak leaned over to her. "Aw c'mon, lighten up!" he whispered. Petals rolled her eyes. "This place bites." she whispered back. She looked around, and saw Mickey, the orange porcupine, staring at her. She moaned, and looked back towards the podium. Sally stood at the microphone.   
"Hello, I am Sally Acorn, leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters." she declared, smiling. "I would just like to thank all of you for allowing us to rest and gather supplies here as we pass through. After we leave here on the 25th, we will travel East to Station Square."   
Sonic leaned over to Knuckles. "I can't wait!" he whispered. "They have a place called Speed Highway!" Knux chuckled. "That's you alright!" "From there we can purchase equipment, and maybe some of us can get jobs." Sally continued. "New Knothole will be built just a little South of the city, and it will be bigger and better than the original city. With a little help from other villages like yours, we can CRUSH Robotropolis!" This was met by a lot of cheering by the crowd. "Ah guess they really hate Robotropolahs!" Bunnie whispered to Rotor. The walrus just nodded and grinned. 

Mecha Sonic slithered his almost liquified body across the landscape. His radar systems were still working to peak perfection, despite the strange condition of his body. This was so amazing.. Mecha had never imagined the power that had been provided to him by the artifact. It was phenomenal. "Sssonic, you're MINE!" Mecha cackled in a gurgled voice. The entire affair was similar to a previous time when Mecha had dedicated his mind to killing his arch-nemesis.. His memory had been wiped of this event, due to repeditive re-programming. He had been insane that time, and this time he was not far off. The sun had begun to go down by the time Stringybark was in sight. 

Sonic was sitting on a log, when he was approached by somebody.. he looked around, and saw an orange pocupine. "Hi!" he said, waving. Sonic smiled and waved back. "What's your name? I'm Mickey." said the porcupine. "Nice to meet you Mickey! I'm Sonic." replied Sonic. Mickey yawned and sat next to Sonic on the log. "A penny for your thoughts?" he asked. Sonic sighed. "I miss Knothole." he replied. "Robotnik burned it to the ground, that's why we're here." "Yeah, I know." replied Mickey. "I hope Robotnik doesn't burn Stringybark down!" "I doubt it." said Sonic. "He totally despised us. I bet he's happy he thinks he's gotten rid of us." Mickey nodded and sighed. "A penny for YOUR thoughts?" Sonic asked. Mickey grinned a little. "Do you know Petals?" he asked. "Petals? Yeah, I know her.." replied Sonic. "She has a bit of an attitude problem.. why?" Mickey looked around. "I kinda like her.." he said. "But I don't think she likes me.." Sonic chuckled. "Oh really?" he asked. "I can't help you there, pal... I guess you'll just have to be real nice to her. She's a tough cookie." He was interrupted by a strange slithering sound. "What was that?" he asked. "Probably a snake." Mickey said. "We get 'em around here all the time." The porcupine looked around. "Hey.. I'd better go.." he said. "Great meeting you Mickey!" Sonic said. "Yeah, you too Sonic!" Mickey said, grinning and walking away. Sonic sighed and looked back at the sky. The slithering sound happened again. Sonic frowned and looked around. "Sonic.." came a voice. At first Sonic thought it was Mickey again, but then he realised how different the voice was. "Who's there?" he asked. "Ssssonic.." came the voice again. "You can't be Sonic." Sonic replied, crossing his arms. "'Cause that's who you're talking to! Now who is it REALLY?" He was answered with a long silence. Shrugging, Sonic began to get up and walk away.. but when he began to walk, something long and thin tripped him over! He hit the ground.. it was like some kind of tentacle! Then something burst out of the bushes and curled around him like a giant snake. It all happened too fast for Sonic to even breathe. When he regained his senses though, he saw two very familiar red eyes staring at him.   
"MECHA?" he shreiked.   
Mecha just grinned. Yes, grinned. He had a mouth, now, much to Sonic's surprise, and he was soft and squishy, unlike the hard metal he usually was. He seemed almost like he was alive, and yet so powerful..   
Sonic twisted around and cut himself loose from the bind that Mecha had on him. He began to ran, but something whipped him hard on the back. He cried out, as another blue tentacle coiled around him. Other villagers who heard the commotion were looking on, gasping.. Mecha had Sonic in his grasp like a giant octopus. Villagers began to attack the monsterous liquid-metal robot, but he simply extended a tentacle and knocked them over like dominoes. Sonic, struggling and choking inside the grip of the robot, noticed a glow in the center of his stomach. What was that? He looked around and saw more villagers being thrown around like confetti. How could Mecha be stopped? Sonic looked again at the glow in Mecha's stomach. It reminded him of a myth that a dragon can only be killed by a stab in the belly. Without thinking, Sonic grabbed the source of the glow and twisted. It was the only solid thing in Mecha's body. The robot let out a cry, and looked down at the hedgehog, who had his power source in his grasp. He coiled a tentacle around Sonic's neck, and pulled him away, but Sonic still had the orb in his hand, and tore it out of Mecha's stomach as he was pulled away. Mecha gasped in surprise, and the effects were instantanious. He began to shrink, his tentacles and limbs retracting into his body. Sonic was eventually let free, gasping for air. Mecha turned back into a hard metal robot, stumbled back, and fell over. Sonic looked down at what was in his hand. It wasn't glowing any more, and it was simply a small blue marble, shining in the moonlight. Was this the thing that gave Mecha all those powers? Knuckles ran over to him. "Sonic!" he shouted. "Was THAT Mecha Sonic?" Sonic nodded. "Yeah!" he replied. "And he had THIS inside him!" he held up the object, and Knux stumbled back in disbelief. "What's happening? Sonic, watch out! Drop it!" he warned. "Huh?" Sonic asked, looking at his hand. The strange orb was actually sinking into his skin! "HEY!" Sonic shouted, trying to shake it out. It sank all the way inside his palm.. beneath his skin.. and began to glow again. It moved to his wrist, along his arm, to his elbow, to his shoulder.. Sonic tried to grab onto it through his skin, but he couldn't get a hold of it. It was moving past his collarbone, past his ribs.. it moved all the way to his stomach and stopped, glowing brighter than ever. Sonic felt a tingling sensation... a sinister sensation... a POWERFUL sensation... 

CHAPTER TWO: 

"Sonic, what's happened to you?" Sally asked, backing off. "I DON'T KNOW!" Sonic boomed. His eyes glowed like fire.. his teeth were like those of a dinosaur's.. he had three-inch claws on his hands, and his voice nearly blew the trees around. There was a bright glow in his stomach where the orb came to rest. Sonic turned his massive head to face the robot, who was now standing under him. "GIVE BACK WHAT YOU TOOK FROM ME, HEDGEHOG!" Mecha threatened. Sonic smiled. "You gonna make me?" he asked. He raised his massive fist, and brought it down hard onto Mecha's head. It made a crunching sound as Mecha's hull was bent concavely. Then Sonic kicked the robot so hard that he went flying through the forest canopy, and where he came down was a complete mystery. "I SURE SHOWED HIM!" Sonic boomed. "Yeah.." Knuckles stammered. "Okay, let's get that thing outta your stomach now.." "WHY?" asked Sonic. "THIS IS SO COOL! I CAN PROTECT THE VILLAGE SO EASILY LIKE THIS!" "But we don't even know what that thing is..." Knux protested. "AWW, COME ON KNUX!" Sonic pleaded. "JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE!" Knuckles and Sally side-eyed each other. "I suppose.." Sally said hesitantly. "But only for a little while.." "Yeah, and.. well, don't.. demolish anything.." Roy added. Sonic gave a huge toothy grin. "SURE GUYS! I PROMISE!" 

Knuckles was sitting in the Stringybark meeting hall along with Sally and Roy. Even though he wasn't a Freedom Fighter himself, Knux had been a great help and a valuable asset along the journey of the Knothole villagers. They were discussing supplies that they were going to need when they left Stringybark, when Sonic approached the doorway. "I'M HUNGRY, GUYS!" the hedgehog boomed. Sally, who still wasn't used to Sonic's monsterous form, jumped a little when she saw him. "You've already had two main meals in an hour and a half!" she complained, regaining her composure. "Just go down to the lake and have a drink or something!" "AWW, BUT SAL..." Sonic replied. "OH.. BUT.. OH ALRIGHT." The huge hedgehog walked away. "I really don't like that thing in him.." Sally sighed. "I don't even know what it is!" Knuckles whined. "I've tried to extract it a couple times, but he wouldn't let me! It's almost as if it's an addiction!" "Well, it's one hell of a steroid!" Roy said. "What if it's radioactive or something?" "It could be harming him." Sally added. "I'll try to get it out of him." 

"Sonic!" Sally yelled. Sonic looked up from the stream and saw the squirrel running up to him. "Sonic, that thing in your belly could be dangerous, you know!" Sonic let out a booming laugh. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT?" he asked. "Well, just look at you!" Sally replied. "Look what it's done to you!" "AND THIS IS A BAD THING?" Sonic asked. "Well, yeah!" Sally replied. "You're HUGE! You look like a fragging dinosaur, and you eat like one, too!" "Hey, I don't eat much!" came a voice. Sally turned and squealed when she saw Shax the velociraptor behind her. "Oh.. oh sorry, Shax, I wasn't talking to you." she said. "Well, who were you... holy moley!" Shax stammered when he saw Sonic. "Talk about Son of Frankenstein!" "HEY, WATCH IT SHAX!" Sonic complained. Shax and Sonic stared for a while. "Do I know you?" Shax asked. "It's Sonic." said Sally. Shax shook his head frantically. "Nooo! Sonic's a little guy! Unless he's been taking some kind of performance-enhancing drug to get even faster..!" "NO SHAX, IT'S THIS COOL MARBLE THINGY!" Sonic replied, pointing to the glow in his stomach. "It's like he's obsessed with that thing.." Sally said to the raptor. "Maybe you can talk some sense into him." "Ever thought that thing might be doing you damage, Sonic?" Shax asked. "IT HAS NO SIDE EFFECTS!" Sonic replied.   
Shax frowned. "Okay, Sonic, you see that? That puffiness, gigantism, razor-like-teeth-and-claws kinda thing? I'm no expert, but I would probably call THAT a SIDE EFFECT, wouldn't you?"   
"I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS!" Sonic boomed. "YOU GUYS ARE JUST JEALOUS! JEALOUS BECAUSE I AM ALL-POWERFUL, AND YOU GUYS ARE JUST WEAKLINGS!" With that, the hedgehog walked away, making large footprints in the mud. 

Mecha Sonic sat up. He was badly damaged, but his internal systems and rocket were still operating. It was funny.. there was only one thing on his robot mind.. the hyper-neutrino. Even though he was programmed to return to Robotropolis for repairs, the urge to locate and re-equip the rare artifact was so great that it overrode all other commands. He wanted that power again.. the lust was so great that he didn't even have to think about finding it again.. his rockets started up, and the search began. 

Mickey the Porcupine saw Petals sitting on a rock. He smiled and walked up to her. "Heya!" he said. Petals shot up, and spun around to him, arms in a karate position. When she saw who it was, she made a very loud noise and clumped down again. "What's wrong?" Mickey asked, sitting next to her. "Annoying people like you!" Petals protested. "I'm trying NOT to be annoying!" Mickey said. "Well, your trying not to be annoying is becoming ANNOYING!" Petals yelled. "Well, how can I be less annoying?" Mickey asked. "BY NOT SPEAKING TO ME!" Petals shouted. Mickey's eyes drooped, and he picked himself up and walked away. Petals snorted and spat in the dirt. 

Sonic lay half asleep on the grass outside the village when the sun went down. He couldn't fit in a hut, let alone on a bed. It worried him very little, though. All he cared about was that he had the strange treasure in his stomach. Nothing else mattered.. nothing else could make him happy. His mind was clouded like it never had been before. Never once did he even wonder what the thing WAS. After all, why did it matter? All that mattered in his life was that it was HIS. He was all-powerful and unstoppable. The fools he had been sticking around with for years didn't even matter an ounce.. He just knew that the greedy villagers all wanted to steal his treasure. "Typical." he thought.   
There was a rustling in the bushes. Sonic shot up, and stared around. He immediately knew it was a theif. The theives were everywhere. Everybody was out to get him. It was then that it occured to him that everybody was his enemy. He must trust nobody, and destroy those who wanted his power. The figure came into view. Sonic growled a deep, booming animal growl. "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE IT FROM ME.." he snarled. Two red points of light became visible on the figure. "On the contrary.." the figure, Mecha Sonic, said haltingly.   
"You WILL give me my treasure back."   
"What makes you think you can get it?" Sonic chuckled.   
"Because you're looking at a hologram." came the reply.   
Sonic jumped up and waved his clawed hand at Mecha.. it went straight through the hologram like the thin air it was. Something rammed into the huge hedgehog from behind, and he stumbled. He didn't have time to regain his composure before Mecha stabbed his own sharp hand into the glow in Sonic's belly, twisted, and violently yanked the object out. Sonic, in his super-powered state, watched the wound completely heal up instantly. But after it did, he felt himself begin to shrink. His skin began to itch ad flake off, along with his claws and other sharp bits which fell onto the grass beside him. Soon enough, he was a normal-sized hedgehog again, with a huge headache. He looked at Mecha Sonic, who was laughing maniacally. Sonic picked himself up, staring vengefully at Mecha. "Give that back!" he shreiked, upstarting. When Mecha did nothing other than laugh, Sonic hurled himself at the robot, and threw his fist at Mecha's head with humungous strength.   
It sunk into the robot as if he punched a cheesecake.   
Mecha's tentacles responded immediately, sprouting from everywhere on his body, tripping Sonic over and grabbing him by the neck. The liquid metal tentacles contracted slowly, choking Sonic and depriving him of air. 

Then the impact came. Knuckles hit Mecha over the head with a large urn, and it made a sickening splat sound. Knux then threw the vase to the ground, and bared his knuckles. He punched at the supercharged robot repeatedly, effectively causing him to drop Sonic, but not actually harming him. He absorbed every punch like a sponge, then throwing them back twofold. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" came a loud voice. Petals stepped into the clearing. "SOME PEOPLE are trying to SLEEP!" She caught a glimpse of the fight, and cocked her head to the side. "What the heck..?" Mecha, trying to fight off Knuckles, caught sight of the porcupine. He extended a tentacle as fast as lightning, and whipped it around her neck. Surprised and shocked, she tried to fight it off. Just as quickly, a shadow came out of nowhere, and hacked off the tentacle with a kitchen knife. It was Mickey. Both porcupines hit the ground, and Mecha's severed tentacle slithered back and re-attached to him.. the robot then paid his attention to Knux again.   
"SAGE! A LITTLE HELP!" Knuckles yelled into the night air. Sagittarius appeared on cue, and fired arrow apon arrow into Mecha's exterior. Some of the projectiles went straight through him, and some were left stuck in his sticky fluid mass. Feeling overwhelmed, Mecha retreated into the forest like a giant blob. Knuckles and Sage fell to the dirt, panting. "We saved you're rear end, Sonic!" Knux declared. "NO, YOU IDIOTS!!" Sonic yelled in a frenzy.   
"YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!!"   
"Say what?" Knux asked. "What did you call me?"   
"HOW am I supposed to get the power source now??" Sonic demanded.   
"I don't think you ARE, pal.." Sage replied.   
"LOOK HERE, SONIC!" Knuckles shouted. "THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH!! Now I don't know what the HELL that thing is, where it came from or how it does the things it does, but your OBSESSION with it is just plain sickening! Just let the #$%# robot HAVE it!"   
"NO!" screamed Sonic at a tone Knux had never heard him yell at before. "You're against me... YOU'RE ALL AGAINST ME! I WILL NOT LET YOU HAVE IT!!"   
"We don't WANT it!" Sage protested.   
"Oh sure.." Sonic said. "That's what you WANT me to think, and as soon as I let my guard down, SPLAT, I'll get an arrow through my back, or a knuckle in my skull!"   
"What the hell are you talking about?" Knux asked. "I've never SEEN you like this! Listen to yourself! You're freaking PARANOID! That THING has done something to your mind!"   
"YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MY MIND!!" Sonic screamed, his pupils diluting. "THAT _THING_ IS THE ONLY THING THAT'S ON MY SIDE! YOU ARE ALL OUT TO KILL ME! TO GET IT OFF ME! Man, why didn't I see this before??" With that, Sonic turned his back on the echidnas, and sped off into the trees.   
"Where's he going?" Sage asked.   
"Probably after Mecha." Knux replied. "Come on, let's stop him before he does more damage to himself!" 

Sonic was running about as fast as he ever had, in an insane rage, when he caught up with Mecha and tackled him. The two went tumbling through the forest, and when Mecha saw that Sonic was alone, he immediately tried to engulf him. But Sonic dove straight into Mecha's chest, and broke out the other side holding the hyper-neutrino. He began to grow into the monster he was before. Mecha used what remained of his energy to wrap a tentacle around Sonic's neck, and try to grab the glowing object again. The hyper-neutrino was growing visibly warmer, but neither of the insane feuders cared. All they cared about was stealing the object away from the other. It was like a feeding frenzy. Both of them were powered up as the marble poured its energy into them.. energy which would usually be used to blow up a quarter of a planet. Both enemies furiously fought over the jewel, and Knuckles was in a tree above, watching them. "SONIC! DROP IT AND LEAVE!" Knux shouted. "AND LEAVE IT FOR YOU TO STEAL?" Sonic asked, laying a clawed fist into Mecha's soft skull. "NEVER!" Knuckles shook his head. "I don't WANT your stupid orb!" he insisted.   
"SSHHUT UP ECHIDNA!" Mecha hissed evilly. "Unlessss you wisssh to die afffter I dessstroy Ssssss....sssssss.....sssssss..."   
The robot, who had obviously also been driven over the point of insanity, struggled with Sonic's name for a while, whilst his squirming tentacles tried to hold the monsterous hedgehog's libms down, and fight for the orb.   
"This is like a Godzilla movie!" Knux said in disbelief.   
Sonic managed to wrestle the object away, and he ran deeper into the forest. Mecha, who was stretched out of shape, distorted and seemingly unable to control his elasticity any more, stumbled and tore after him. 

Sonic ran until he found a large abandoned hut in the woods. He took one more look at the hyper-neutrino.. it was hot almost to the point of searing his flesh, it was about twice as large as it was before, and was pulsating a deep red.   
Unbeknownst to anybody present, the hyper-neutrino had the properties of a star. Both contain immense energy, produce their own light and power... and, just like a star, when the hyper-neutrino's resources were being used up, it grew into a red giant.. the next stage would inavoidably be an explosion or an implosion.. a supernova or a black hole. Neither were pretty. Sonic looked around nervously. "I.. I must hide it!!" he stammered. "They're all out to get me!! I'm not safe!" He saw the bulbous fluid body of Mecha bobbing after him. He bolted inside the hut and slammed the door. Mecha's body mass was now so thin that he was having a hard time keeping himself together, and Sonic was having problems also.. one of his sharp teeth wouldn't stop growing, one arm was bulkier than the other, his claws were long and thin like needles, and he had to hunch over to support his own weight. He didn't look like Frankenstein any more, he looked more like Quasimodo. He was holding the door shut when Mecha dribbled through one of the windows, catching the hedgehog by surprise. Sonic hobbled over to the window, and began to swipe at the robot who was invading. Mecha's long string-like tentacles wrapped around Sonic's waist and neck, and another one absorbed the hyper-neutrino. The orb continued to stream its very unstable energy into both characters, deforming them more and more. Mecha filled the room like water, almost completely unable to move or stay together. Sonic hunched over, the hump on his back rendering him near helpless, and the mass of his right arm nearly toppling him over sideways. Regardless, the two continued to fight over the hyper-neutrino, not caring or seemingly even noticing what was happening to their bodies. They both struggled to move, let alone fight.   
Knuckles peered through the window, and couldn't contain his amazement when he saw a giant blue mutant wading in a dark blue puddle. He also saw the hyper-neutrino. It was in the middle of the hut, hovering above the ground. It was about five times bigger than it was originally, and it was bright red, pulsating slowly. It looked downright dangerous. It began to grow bigger before the echidna's eyes.   
"SONIC!" he yelled through the window. "IT'S GONNA BLOW! GET OUTTA THERE!" Sonic simply snarled at the echidna, looked at the orb, and grabbed it. It grew at least another inch in diameter just by him touching it. Another thin liquid tentacle emerged from the puddle, and wrapped around the unstable orb, making it grow even bigger. And so the two began wrestling once again. Sonic being held down by countless tiny strings and his own immobility left Mecha to grab the hyper-neutrino.   
Knuckles ran away, anticipating the huge explosion from the orb. Mecha completely absorbed the object, and managed to pull himself into a semi-solid mass, with great difficulty.   
"It'ssssssssss ovvvvvvvvvverrr..." he hissed. "I'vvvvvvve won! You will NEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVERRRRR ssssssssssseeee the orrrrrrrrrrb again!"   
Unfortunately for him, he was right. The hyper-neutrino exploded. 

Knuckles witnessed it from behind the bushes. The hut exploded and was replaced by a massive dark blue balloon. Then, as if the air was being let out slowly, the huge balloon began to shrink.. it shrunk until it was only a couple of feet high, and then began to change shape, back into the form of Mecha Sonic.   
Luckily, the two enemies had pretty much drained the hyper-neutrino for everything it was worth. The explosion which would have been worth many nuclear blasts turned out in the end to be more like a pipe bomb. Additionally, Mecha's rubber body encased the entire explosion in a giant balloon.   
The echidna ran over to the scene. Mecha Sonic was bent out of shape, but amazingly still alive. With great difficulty, he operated his rockets, and blasted in the direction of Robotropolis. This would be the third time in a month he needed drastic repairs.   
Then Knuckles saw Sonic, lying on the grass, shivering. Luckily enough, his mutated body had returned to normal, nix a few patches of missing quills and a cold sweat. Sighing, Knux picked up the body and walked back to Stringybark. 

"Mickey.." Petals sighed. "It's not that I don't like you, and it was really, really nice of you to save me from that... thing. But it would never work between us.. you're so.. NICE, and I'm so crabby. We wouldn't be happy." Mickey looked up at her, a small tear in his eye, and nodded silently. "We can still be friends, right?" he asked. "Sure.." Petals replied. She gave him a small hug, during which time she heard the click of a shutter behind her. She turned around, and saw Tails holding a camera, giggling. "HEY YOU!" Petals shrieked. "YOU LITTLE RASCAL! I WILL KILL YOU!" she chased after him, but he spun his tails and flew into the air. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER!" she shouted up at him, waving her fist. 

"He's recovering amazingly quickly." Sally said. "He's eating again, and he doesn't seem to have his paranoid attitude any more.. he's been talking to people all day." "Ah, that's great!" Knuckles said. "I just hope we can still trust him." "Oh, I think so." Sally replied. "Whatever that thing was, it corrupted his mind, but he's recovering." "It's gone now." Knuckles assured her. "And I hope we never see another thing like it." 

THE END 

SERIES TWO CHRONOLOGY:   
1. The New Girl   
2. Dragon the Chain   
3. Never Say Nemesis   
4. When a Hedgehog Meets a Fox   
5. Just Your Imagination   
6. Shred   
7. The Death Machine   
8. Metal Made Flesh   
9. Power Corrupts   
10. Halfway Across the Galaxy   
11. Two For One   
12. Prologue to an Adventure   
13. Adventure

   [1]: http://www.stas.net/1/shax/Virtualden.html
   [2]: mailto:Shaxr@angelfire.com



End file.
